How to Say “Hello” in Chinese
Greetings and politeness · HSK 1
"Hello" in Chinese is 你好 (nǐ hǎo). 你好 (nǐ hǎo) is the standard Chinese hello and the first phrase almost every learner memorises. In Beijing speech you will hear a slightly elongated first tone on 你.
Primary translation
你好
nǐ hǎo
Variants by register
Formal
您好
nín hǎo
When to use it
你好 (nǐ hǎo) is the standard Chinese hello and the first phrase almost every learner memorises. In Beijing speech you will hear a slightly elongated first tone on 你. For formal settings — meeting an elder, addressing a customer, answering a business call — use the polite 您好 (nín hǎo) with the respectful 您. A group hello is 大家好 (dàjiā hǎo), literally "everyone hello". Answering a phone call, Chinese speakers use 喂 (wèi) not 你好.
Example sentences
你好！我是小明。
Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ shì Xiǎomíng.
Hello! I am Xiaoming.
您好，欢迎光临。
Nín hǎo, huānyíng guānglín.
Hello, welcome.
大家好，我今天给大家讲一下。
Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ jīntiān gěi dàjiā jiǎng yíxià.
Hello everyone, I will give a talk today.